Houlihan Lokey
An investment bank, not a CDD provider. What it does, and where commercial due diligence sits on its deals.
Houlihan Lokey is an investment bank and M&A advisor, not a commercial due diligence (CDD) provider. It advises on the transaction itself. Commercial due diligence, the market, customer and competitive read behind the investment decision, is a separate workstream commissioned from a CDD boutique or Big-4 deal advisory. If you searched for Houlihan Lokey CDD, the firm that writes the market read is in the providers directory.
§ 1.1What Houlihan Lokey actually does
The firm publishes three service lines: corporate finance (M&A, capital solutions, board advisory), financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory. Its transaction-adjacent diligence work sits under financial and valuation advisory (financial due diligence and transaction opinions), which is a distinct discipline from commercial due diligence. Source: hl.com.
§ 1.2Where CDD fits on a Houlihan Lokey deal
On a buy-side mandate the investment committee still needs a commercial read; on a sell-side mandate the seller may commission vendor CDD (VCDD) to hand bidders with reliance. Either way the M&A advisor runs the process while a CDD provider writes the market, customer and competitive chapters. See the seven CDD chapters.
§ 1.3Fees
M&A advisory is typically priced as a retainer plus a success fee on completion, not a fixed CDD mandate fee. Houlihan Lokey does not publish a rate card; every engagement is quote-only. For indicative CDD mandate bands (a separate cost line), see the fee bench.
§ 1.4Who to shortlist for the CDD itself
Match the CDD provider to the target sector and deal size from the boutique directory, then weigh boutique versus Big-4 on the decision matrix.